Publications

Issue Archive

A Natural Clean-Up Technology

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

Page 1 of 2

Researchers at North Carolina State University are demonstrating that trees can be used to degrade or capture fuels that leak into soil and ground water. Through a process called phytoremediation, plants and trees remove pollutants from the environment or render them harmless.

Dr. Elizabeth Nichols - a professor of Environmental Technology at NC State’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources - and her team have partnered with state and federal agencies, the military, and industry to clean up a contaminated Coast Guard site in Elizabeth City, N.C.

About 3,000 trees were planted on the five-acre site, which stored aircraft fuel for the Coast Guard base from 1942 until 1991. Fuels had been released into the soil and ground water over time. Efforts to recover easily extractable fuel using a free product recovery system – or “oil skimmers” – had stalled, so other remedial options were considered before choosing phytoremediation.

Phytoremediation uses plants to absorb heavy metals from the soil into their roots. The process is an alternative to standard clean-up methods currently used, which can be expensive and energy intensive. At appropriate sites, phytoremediation can be a cost-effective and sustainable technology, according to Nichols.

Question of the Week

This week's Question: This month, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed long-awaited rules on the commercial use of small drones, requiring operators to be certified, fly only during daylight, and keep their aircraft in sight. The ruling,...